Kinect / Prism

Some folks were trying to pretend a real-or-imagined link between Microsoft and PRivacy Invasion Secretly Manifested would simply go away. "That was weeks ago! People have forgotten" one person claimed.

Microsnoop (that's almost as good as Micro$oft LOL) want to push Skype onto everyone and then demand that 'kinshite absolutely must be plugged into their fabulous new console is creepy as fuck. Don't get me wrong here, I'm a paranoid motherfucker but for sure even normal people find this creepy, right?

If it weren't for the fact that you can turn it off, maybe it would be a little bit creepy, yeah.

I dunno. I know "first they came for the Jews" and all that (it's from a poem, I'm not being Mel Gibson-y), but none of this NSA stuff has really bothered me. I find it amusing that the paranoid conspiracies I believed as a teenage X-Files addict were sorta true, and I'm certainly offended at the scale of it all, but... well, maybe it works? Maybe it has stopped terror attacks?

I guess I'm ambivalent, just as I am with the prospect of MS handing over my data or giving the NSA access to Skype calls.

sport wrote:
I find it weirder that some people learn about this, and go "meh". Surely you're slightly bothered?

I'm slightly bothered. But as I understand it, the NSA basically instructs companies to hand over details of individuals or individual conversations, and these companies are not only required to comply but have to do so secretly.

It's shady, right. Could the companies refuse or kick up a fuss? Maybe. They don't because they're motivated by self-interest, I guess, and probably the fear that the one guy they don't hand over blows up the Empire State Building, or something.

So whilst I find it a little... squirmy, I can't quite get up in arms about it for some reason.

sport wrote:
I find it weirder that some people learn about this, and go "meh". Surely you're slightly bothered?

This.

The whole affair is mad, absolutely mad. A complete abuse of the internet and data. If this doesn't spook you, what lengths will people allow governments to go before they get truly pissed off. Give an inch, take a mile...

sport wrote:
I find it weirder that some people learn about this, and go "meh". Surely you're slightly bothered?

This.

The whole affair is mad, absolutely mad. A complete abuse of the internet and data. If this doesn't spook you, what lengths will people allow governments to go before they get truly pissed off. Give an inch, take a mile...

Yeah. I've also found that there seems to be more anger about this in Germany than (as far as I can tell) in other countries, but that's probably no coincidence - we had two dictatorships in the 20th century that were strongly based on observation and datamining - quite effectively, and with such primitve means compared to what is possible today.

I wish companies actually put up a fight. Sure they have to comply by law but I think the issue is worth shouting about so the public and other officials get a say instead of bending over. That is one of the most disappointing aspects, nobody stood up.

When the system is off, it’s only listening for the single voice command -- “Xbox On,” and you can even turn that feature off too. Some apps and games may require Kinect functionality to operate, so you’ll need to turn it back on for these experiences.

Britesparc wrote:
If it weren't for the fact that you can turn it off, maybe it would be a little bit creepy, yeah.

You can press a button that powers down a LED. You will then think the camera is off. If someone with root access (The US Government) wants to use the camera it doesn't really matter if the LED is red or green. Well, I guess to them it's better if it's red.

Same goes for any tech really. Our phones can be switched on and used as listening devices / spy cams. Even old fashioned phones could/can be turned on whilst in the receiver.

And of course, the same goes for all web cams that are built into computers.

Britesparc wrote:
If it weren't for the fact that you can turn it off, maybe it would be a little bit creepy, yeah.

You can press a button that powers down a LED. You will then think the camera is off. If someone with root access (The US Government) wants to use the camera it doesn't really matter if the LED is red or green. Well, I guess to them it's better if it's red.

Same goes for any tech really. Our phones can be switched on and used as listening devices / spy cams. Even old fashioned phones could/can be turned on whilst in the receiver.

And of course, the same goes for all web cams that are built into computers.

Okay, I guess that's true, but I think that is a little bit tinfoil-hat, personally. Nothing anyone's said so far has indicated they're turning on devices remotely, as far as I'm aware.

They're hardly going to come out and say "oh and while it's just listening for 'Xbox, on' we can trigger the Xbox One remotely while it's in its low power state and do stuff without the end user knowing anything about it."